if you've ever wondered: who should i mail my new project to or where should i look for new music? the answer is the same for both: free form freakout. david perron co-hosts the weekly radio show with carl nordmeier in mankato, minnesota on kmsu, every thursday at 2pm, and he goes solo for his own bi-monthly fff podcast series where he's able to dig even deeper.
david is a huge collector/selector from a massive pool of underground sound, and the show and his podcast are essential for keeping afloat (or trying to) of all the crazy and weirdo things happening around the globe really. and he doesn't just tune to the weird, tons of pop and folk and rock and ambient and electronic musics find their way into his outstretched mitts, he's a gripper of everything.
the free form freakout empire is a great source for hearing amazing things, there's a ton of interviews and features on a whole mix of different artists and labels. david's interviews are all ace, and you never know what kind of new thing he'll have cooking up down the line.
adding to the musical magnet powers, he recently started a new record label called round bale recordings with two excellent releases ready for yr shelves (or already on them) too.
all of this was more than enough of a reason to ask him a few things about collecting, talk about and get inside the new label he's kicking up, and to see what else the future holds. i also thought it would be interesting to spin the chair around and put him in the answer seat, as he's always asking the questions and hiding in the background, and i think his insight and taste make him a perfect candidate for our q-and-a series.
the answers below are presented as i received them, by email, unedited. and we hope you enjoy our conversation.
-------------------------------
rotational:
you are from the minnesota area, can you tell me a little about what
that was like growing up? seems to me like an isolated situation, i'm
looking at a map right now and i guess there is some larger cities
fairly close by, but in my head i always think of minnesota a little
like winnipeg, where everything's really stretched out and far apart.
plus, mankato itself (not sure if that's where you grew up
specifically, but it is where kmsu the radio station lives) is really
small too. that has to feed itself into the musical scenes, did
the geography and/or tiny-nature play a part in any of the artistic
movements or counter-cultural scenes do you think? does this matter
to you?
I
grew up in a smaller town in southern MN, not too far from the Twin
Cities, and spent the better part of the 90’s living in various
locales around Minneapolis. While stretches of cornfields, lakes, and
wooded areas are common sights, it’s maybe not as spread out as the
open space surrounding Winnipeg (which I paid a visit to this past
summer). Culturally speaking, though, it certainly felt isolated
where I grew up. We didn’t have the Internet to rely on to get our
fix, so blind purchases and special orders of tapes at the local
music instrument store and the occasional trips into Minneapolis to
hit up record stores were very important. Later, moving to
Minneapolis and being able to take in live shows, listen to vibrant
radio stations, discover different print publications and zines, and,
again, spend ample time and money in record stores were all
mind-expanding and life-altering experiences.
As
for Mankato, it’s a modest-sized college town that’s located
about an hour southwest of Minneapolis, so there is a certain degree
of cultural exchange in terms of bands traveling through, art
showings, readings, etc. Mankato does have a history of homegrown
punk and hardcore/metal activity that stems back long before I ever
arrived here, and one that seems to wax-and-wane depending on the
availability of performance spaces and, like other small cities, who
actually sticks around. Of late, there seems to be more of an uptick
in hip-hop and folk-leaning music taking place. As someone who is a
bit of a shut-in, I can’t speak assuredly as to what drives the
local music scene here. I think being in a smaller college town in
the Midwest there are quite naturally going to be periods of
intensely focused creative activity followed by periods of utter
stagnation. It seems like we’re in a bit of a transitional phase
right now. Generally speaking, though, I think being a bit removed
from larger cultural hubs affords one a certain degree of creative
freedom and allows a person to forge a path that is uniquely their
own. This last point is something of great importance to me.
rotational:
has there been a strong continuing vibe for noisier or weirder stuff?
i know that some small places and/or places that are removed from
some of the bigger 'centers' can get really heavy things going
(nihilist spasm band in london, ontario as just one of many
examples). is there an us vs them philosophy at work at all? or a
nurturing of yr own, free from the worries of the bigger places with
all of the claustrophobia and hype and trend-setting, a left alone to
make what you want vibe? any stand-out acts that wowed you over the
years?
I
wouldn’t say that is so much the case here. I think given the
proximity to the Twin Cities most serious bands are playing shows up
there and making connections with other metro acts. I think that’s
probably a good thing, though, as I’m sure that playing out in such
a small town can otherwise feel a bit insular at times. Some of the
best local shows that I’ve seen here have been bills that have
paired local acts with out-of-towners. It seems like this raises the
stakes and brings out a slightly different audience.
There
have been some standout bands that have caught my attention since
I’ve been here in Mankato. Maths Balance Volume was a younger crew
that was making some interesting junk-noise several years back.
Rhythmaplex Project are a duo that still gets together for the
occasional live show to play their brand of clanky, detuned garage
punk. Crash Cuddle is an incredibly tight instrumental power rock duo
that recently re-located to the Twin Cities. And, War Rooster and Let
It Breathe are a couple of heavy doom-indebted rock outfits that are
currently blowing eardrums out. A lot of the live music activity that takes place here isn’t necessarily what I’m fully
into, but there are bands like these ones that are really quite good
at doing their thing.
rotational:
what were some of the bigger moments for you that spun you around and
flipped you out, in regards to hearing or seeing or reading about
strange and experimental and noise-type sounds? did you grow up a
punker? were you always interested in collecting things, even at a
young age? what brought you to the college/university radio scene?
Well,
my reply could go on endlessly to this question, but I’ll try to
keep it as concise as possible. I’ve never identified myself as
being a “punker” or anything else for that matter, really, other
than being an avid listener and huge fan of music and, maybe most
importantly, a compassionate human being. I started actively buying
music in elementary school, mostly heavy metal tapes, and I’ve
never really lost that desire to continue to discover challenging new
sounds. This, of course, followed a fairly natural progression over
the years through things like rap, punk, post-punk, indie rock,
electronic music and eventually on into more strange and experimental
realms. I suppose that throughout this it was albums like, say,
“Double Nickels on the Dime”, “Trout Mask Replica”, “Parable
of Arable Land” and hundreds of others that pointed me towards more
unconventional types of music and improvised sounds.
In
retrospect, attending the De Stijl/Freedom From Festival in
Minneapolis in 2003 was also a fairly formative live event in terms
of seeing such a wide array of musical acts being presented together
on the same bill. Seeing people like Arthur Doyle and Bridget St.
John playing on the same stage as something like Wooden Wand &
the Vanishing Voice or Dead Machines seemed so strange at first, but
you could eventually see the wild connections between these artists
and the deeply personal way that they approached their music. Also,
it was amazing to see the merch tables filled with things like John
Olson’s American Tapes releases, something I’d never seen before
in the flesh, and Ron Lessard’s massive RRR spread. I walked away
from this festival with a pricey speeding ticket, a copy of a
Bananafish ‘zine, and a deepened interest in discovering more about
this area of sub-underground music and art.
I’ve
been a long-time listener and supporter of college and
community-driven radio: Radio K and KFAI in Minneapolis being two
local favorites and, of course, WFMU being a HUGE inspiration.
Strangely, I didn’t get involved in radio until I was out of
college and grad school. I listened to some of the shows on KMSU here
in Mankato and knew a few of the hosts through working at a local
record store. After making a pledge drive donation to do an on-air
program director slot with my friends on the Shuffle Function morning
show, I was later approached by them about starting a show of my own
when some afternoon time slots opened up at the station. My friend
Carl and I jumped at the opportunity and would eventually start the
weekly Free Form Freakout show together, which has been running for
10 years now.
rotational:
yr so active in discovering and finding out about all types of
different music, and yr very good at hunting some of the creators
down and doing interviews via yr free form freakout podcast, etc,
what keeps you so excited and so hungry for all of this? as a
listener, i can tell straight up that you really get inside the music
and the different formats, and how they can represent more than just
a few songs on a physical thing, there is a whole life-doing,
life-creating involved. why do you think underground (and everything
really) music stands out so much to you and are you this inquisitive
in other parts of yr life? are there any other hobbies or items of
interest that get you humming/buzzing like music does?
I
guess what it comes down to is that I’m incredibly fascinated with
the creative process and with creative individuals, especially those
that feel the compulsion to create something in the face of near
total indifference, regardless of genre or medium. I enjoy learning
about these artist’s stories, understanding their motivations,
figuring out how they develop their craft, and especially grappling
with the work itself. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been a music
fan from a fairly young age, so at this point in my life it’s just
simply a part of who I am or, to borrow from Jason Lescalleet, this
is what I do. I find music to be life affirming, so why not spend
time actively engaging with something that you enjoy. The podcast has
provided an outlet to explore these interests more deeply and more
purposefully, and consequently to document a lot of musical activity
that I feel is often criminally overlooked. Underground and
experimental music are both fairly vague and anomalous descriptors,
which I’m actually quite comfortable with; there isn’t a defined
sound, more a distinctive or highly personalized approach. So, there
is a lot of room within that to explore different types of music that
are challenging and unconventional in their own right. I like that
idea of openness, and as I alluded to above, I’m drawn to artists
that create something that is uniquely their own. I certainly have
other interests in such things as literature, film, visual art,
baseball, and beer, but given my day job and other family
responsibilities, I tend to spend a disproportionate amount of my
limited free time on music in various ways.
rotational:
i'm sure yr listening to tons of music a week, how do you go about
setting up yr radio show and podcasts, is it more free flow let the
tracks take you to the next piece, or do you take notes along the way
about how you want things to go? are you a detailed, organized type
of guy? or do you throw it all at the wall and see what
sticks?
With
the weekly Free Form Freakout radio show that I do with my friend, I
tend to be very spontaneous with what I pick out and play. I
generally try to grab a mixture of new releases, some artists/albums
that I haven’t heard in awhile, and usually a few things that are
relevant to what’s happening during that given week, be it tie-ins
to concerts going on, releases coming out, or other newsworthy bits.
I often do this an hour or two before I actually go up and do the
show.
I’m
much more deliberate with how I approach putting together the
podcasts, though, which is something I do entirely on my own. There’s
literally hours of listening that goes into preparing these shows. I
don’t necessarily take detailed notes while listening, but I do
maintain an ever-changing playlist for grouping and sequencing tracks
and for keeping tabs on track lengths and other considerations like
excerpts and such. Since I try to keep the show right around the
2-hour mark for re-broadcasting purposes, you’d be surprised how
much of my listening involves using a stopwatch, especially with
tapes and records. I’ve found Bandcamp to be particularly helpful
in this regard and for helping with cuing up tapes! I want each
podcast show to cover a lot of ground musically, but I also want it
to flow together seamlessly like a well-considered mixtape, only with
commentary that can be tuned-in or tuned-out depending on the
listener’s tolerance for my droning voice. Once I have the playlist
finalized, I do typically put together some talking points and
information that I’d like to share about each of the artists/albums
played; however, I tend to not follow much of this once the
microphone gets turned on.
With
the feature shows that I put together that involve interviews, I’d
say that I’m even more detailed and organized. I like to have a
general overview of the show laid out in advance so that I can share
that with the person that I’m interviewing in an effort to be as
transparent about the process as possible and to be as efficient as I
can with the time I have with them. This also opens up these shows to
the guests having a chance to provide input, especially when it comes
to track selections, making it more of a collaborative process. In
general, though, I’ve found that being well prepared and organized
makes for a better interview process, at least for me it does, and it
keeps the conversation much more focused. I don’t have much
patience for meandering conversations or for the endless WTF-style
interruptions.
rotational:
do you have a preferred format for listening at home? does it differ
depending on environment and situation? certain music for different
stereos or headphones or car speakers? do you have routines or
systems for when you listen to tapes or vinyl or digital, etc?
I
don’t really have a preferred format or any clearly established
routines other than I try to listen to as much music as I can,
whenever I can. The fetishization of certain formats gets a bit
tiring at times. To me, each format serves a worthwhile purpose and
each are perhaps better for presenting certain types of music over
others. My format choice is determined more so by where I’m at,
what I’m doing, and what playback device I have access to. I listen
to CDs quite often from a small boombox while cooking or in the car
when out and about. I listen to digital files when plugging away at
mindless paperwork tasks at the day job. I listen to LPs when
unwinding during the evening hours. And, if I can ever get a decent
portable tape player to work for more than three months again, I like to
listen to cassettes on headphones while inane TV shows play out in
front of me. My musical choices are probably shaped to a certain
degree by whether anyone else is in my presence or not. Let’s be
honest, there’s not that many people that are overly enthusiastic
about listening to noise or other non-music while hanging out making
a grilled cheese sandwich. So, yes, the more challenging music is
generally left to more private listening times. I suppose one routine
that I am trying to work on more deliberately is just listening to
things without being distracted by other forms of technology, simply
allowing myself to focus on this one thing.
rotational:
you've recently started round bale recordings and have a few
different formats under that belt, the first release being an lp by
tilth, country music being the title, which also came with a limited
edition cdr with the first 50 copies. the second release is by troy
schafer, untitled no. 4, and it is a lathe cut record. what is it
about these formats that interest you? do you lean more towards the
vinyl side of things, or are you open to anything but have just
started to get going? did you have these particular formats in mind
with the first releases?
The
formats for these first two releases were determined more by the
artists themselves than by me. With the Tilth LP, they already had
the album completed and mastered for a full-length vinyl release, so
that was an easy decision to make. I had suggested including some
type of bonus cd-r to include with this inaugural release, sort of
ripping off what Recital does with some of their releases for people
that order direct. The Tilth guys had additional recordings and
rehearsal material lying around, but while waiting for the LP to get
pressed up, they went ahead and recorded a few newer tracks for this
release, too. So, it actually does feel like a proper EP as opposed
to a collection of odds and ends. When I approached Troy Schafer
about doing a release, he had expressed interest in creating
something with the 7” format in mind. Given the costs and
turnarounds at the plants for pressing a standard 7”, we settled on
doing this as a lathe instead. Lathes can be a bit janky, but I
appreciate the customized feel of them. I certainly enjoy the ritual
of sitting down with a vinyl record: dropping the needle, flipping it
over, gazing at the album artwork; however, from a very small label
standpoint, the costs and delays involved in producing a vinyl
release are honestly making it a rather impractical option. I’m
open to anything and even to doing more vinyl releases, but I’m
probably leaning towards doing more with tapes and CDs for the
immediate future.
rotational:
can you tell me a bit about these releases and how they came about
for yr label? what are some of the future plans, if you can say, for
the label and how does running the label overlap with yr usual
digging habits? are you actively looking and searching out new stuff
for release or do you have a master plan already and yr more
comfortable taking yr time and letting it grow slowly?
I
had entertained the idea of starting up a label for years, but what
would eventually compel me to take the leap of faith all came about
quite naturally. I was having beers with Nathan McLaughlin, someone
who I’ve established a close connection with through the podcast
show over the years, and he brought up that there was a second Tilth
album completed and in need of a home. Tilth did their first live
public performance together here in Mankato at a show I had organized
and I had been featuring all of the member’s various solo work on
the show for years, so I sort of half-jokingly said that if no one
else was going to put it out, then I would be interested in putting
it out for them. Nathan got in touch with me shortly thereafter with
the files for the album and a message that read something along the
lines of: “Let me know if you’d really like to do this.”
Unsurprisingly, I was immediately drawn to the restraint and the
smoldering tension within their work, and given our history together,
it just felt like a fitting way to start up a label. It seemed to be
a logical extension of the podcast show, so Round Bale Recordings was
born!
The
Troy Schafer release happened along similar lines. I have been
playing Troy’s music from his duo Rain Drinkers for the past few
years, and I’ve been particularly interested in the solo work that
he has been doing, too, dating back to his Evening
Song Awaken
release on Recital. To me, the guy is one of the most talented and
innovative artists out there right now. He has technical chops, but
he is continuously pushing his work into new areas. The music that he
is producing under his Untitled
series of late is just amazing. So, I wrote to thank him for a tape
that he had sent my way and simply asked if he would be interested in
doing a release together some time. He agreed and the rest, as they
say, is history.
I
can honestly say that I’m not actively seeking out new stuff to
release. As with these previous examples, I’d prefer for things
with the label to develop slowly and to be built more upon personal
connections that I have with artists. The only future plans that I
can mention at this time are, first, a pair of tape releases from a
couple of offshoot solo projects affiliated with Maths Balance
Volumes, a tape-collage, junk-noise unit that previously had releases
out on Chocolate Monk, American Tapes, and other international fringe
labels and that has deep Mankato ties. Second, I’m slowly working
on putting together an anthology for little-known, San Antonio-based
folk artist, Russell Hoke. He’s someone who has been self-releasing
his own
music for several years now, with many of his recordings dating back
to the early 80’s, and I just feel like more people need to hear
his work. There’s an undeniable quality to his music that is
reminiscent
of other quirky yet full-of-heart songwriters like Michael Hurley,
Holy Modal Rounders, Syd Barrett, and Daniel Johnston.
rotational:
what do you think about the rise of digital music and digital
streaming/download platforms and will it (or does it already) affect
the way you run yr show or label? do you see sticking with the
physical format despite the other movements and tangents taking place
as digital-only, etc?
I
do see platforms like Bandcamp and Soundcloud as being quite helpful
for previewing tracks and for discovering new artists, but it
honestly doesn’t have all that much of an impact on how I operate.
I get a lot of digital submissions from artists and I make an effort
to check out much of what people send to me and occasionally play
some of this on the podcast. I have, however, always struggled with
organizing all of this material into something that makes intuitive
sense. I’ve got endless playlists created according to labels and
genres and it still seems like music is just floating all over the
god damn place. On top of that, I’ve lost loads of digital music
over the years when different devices have crapped out on me. So, I
tend to pay more attention to and give priority to actual physical
releases. There’s just something about a physical release,
regardless of the format, that I’m much more drawn to. It’s there
stacked up in my music room commanding my attention, and I have to
physically interact with it in such a way. Plus, I spend enough time
staring at a screen throughout the day, so it’s nice to be able to
break free from that while listening to music. In the end, it may be
my inner librarian or archivist tendencies that wants to be able to
file something on a shelf.
rotational:
to tie in with that, the internet's been super helpful for archiving
podcasts and radio shows and for doing weirdo mixes and collages, and
you've always been very good at getting things up for future listens
online, after things have aired. when did that click for you? did you
always want to have that power to archive and set up the live filing
cabinet for future use? and especially with the role of the podcast
as it gets to sit there and wait for our correct listening
opportunities, i feel like this is the new way of getting things out
there and to champion all of this great music and art without having
to break the bank. and it's the timing, can be done whenever, it's
more spontaneous than some other print or broadcast-only ways, can
you imagine going non-internet with any of this now? i feel like we
have more opportunity to make connections and to meet people whom are
like-minded or into similar stuff, do you agree with that? ever want
to take it all off grid and go pirate-only?
Free
Form Freakout started out and continues on as a weekly radio show
that airs every Thursday afternoon on our local college/community
radio station, KMSU, and you can only hear that version of the show
at that time. I started the podcast version on my own over five years
ago for a few different reasons. I was acquiring a lot of new music
through various means: submissions at the station, promos from
writing for the now defunct Foxy Digitalis website, and all of the
stuff that I was seeking out and buying on my own. With the regular
weekly show only filling an hour time slot and then splitting up that
musical time with my co-host, I didn’t feel like I could cover all of
this new music that I was getting my hands on. Additionally, I didn’t
feel like a lot of this music necessarily fit into the overall flow
of our weekly show. I wanted to play tapes and lengthy drone tracks
and absurdist noise and other fringe sounds; and while I like to push
the envelope somewhat on the weekly show, even I realize that some of
this would be a bit of a stretch for a mid-afternoon radio show in
southern Minnesota! So, with the help of a fellow radio station
friend that agreed to host the show through his website, I came up
with the online-only version of Free Form Freakout that focused on
all of this underground and experimental cassette and micro-label
activity. I had initially called them “webcasts” back when I
started because, honestly, I didn’t even know what the hell a
podcast was. I thought you needed to have an iPod to listen to them
on and I didn’t have one; therefore, I couldn’t call it a
podcast. What I would slowly discover, as you had highlighted, is
that people were gradually checking out the show and that I was able
to start connecting with other people, especially artists and label
owners that shared similar interests in this type of music. I see the
importance of maintaining this type of archive more so now than I
ever did in the early years of doing the show. I like the idea that
people can stumble upon all of this stuff and maybe be turned on to
something new. Thus, I certainly don’t feel the need to pull the
plug and go off-the-grid at this time; our weekly show feels pretty
close to being just that.
rotational:
mail is still the best, so you must love getting packages and do you
have any trade partners that you've kept in contact with over the
years? how much mail do you get a week and are you still a kid in a
candy store when you receive some unknown package? is the mysterious
stuff more intriguing to you?
I
definitely enjoy receiving packages in the mail, especially those
ones that show up out of the blue that I have no idea about and the
ones that come with these personalized notes. Taking the time to
include even a short, hand-scrawled note is such a simple gesture,
but I find that to be so meaningful since we’re talking about such
a small corner of the musical landscape. I’ll take that any day
over the blanket email submissions that don’t even bother to change
the contents of their message, asking me to premiere their video on
my site.
I
don’t do a lot of trading actually, but there are certain artists
and labels that I suppose I’ve developed connections with that
consistently submit their latest work to me. I still try to support
artists and labels by buying direct as much as my pocket book will
allow, which can be a stretch on the budget, but I feel like if I’m
going to be covering this area of music in an engaged manner, then I
should be actively supporting it on all levels. The amount of
packages that I receive, though, varies from week-to-week, and
probably isn’t as much as you might think. If I were to average it
out over the course of the year, I’d say I get maybe 3-4 packages
each week; however, these often include batches of tapes or multiple
releases, so my listening pile can stack up on me quite quickly.
rotational:
i feel like you've mastered the interview process, have you ever done
any investigative journalism or reporting on things beside music?
would that interest you?
Well,
I appreciate you saying that. I still find listening back to myself
while editing these shows together to be a particularly cringeworthy
experience! I haven’t done any other types of reporting outside of
music. As I mentioned earlier, though, I’m interested in the
creative process and creative people in general, so I could see
myself maybe venturing into other areas in the future. I really enjoy
watching documentaries, so if I could ever develop the technical
skills, it would be sort of interesting to expand the podcast show
out into that realm.
rotational:
what are some of yr fave musical writing/radio/podcasts found online?
and what about print? what's the way that you would go about finding
out about new music? going to record stores and digging in person? do
you use discogs and ebay and other collector/share/buy/sell sites?
are you an active bandcamp/soundcloud kind of guy?
There
are several online resources that I think are doing great work;
however, given my limited free time, I’m generally just trying to
keep up with my own listening and writing for FFF-related activity,
so I don’t spend very much time at all accessing those. In terms of
online writing, though, I do try to check out Tiny Mix Tapes, We Need
No Swords, A Closer Listen, Brainwashed, Decoder Magazine (where I’m
an infrequent contributor), and The Out Door’s 200 Words blog.
There are a handful of shows on WFMU that I like to check out
whenever I can, too. Brian Turner’s show is a long-time favorite.
In fact, he was the first person I ever interviewed on Free Form
Freakout. I also enjoy Strength Through Failure, The Avant Ghetto,
and The John Allen Show. Needless to say, WFMU has been a massive
influence going back to well before the FFF show ever existed. I
think the folks behind Tabs Out, Words on Sounds, and Norelco Mori
are all putting their unique stamp on the experimental music podcast
thing, each providing a crucial outlet for all of the cassette
activity currently taking place. I do try to carve out the time to
listen to new installments of the Difficult Listening Made Easy
podcast, as Tom of Crisis of Taste is someone who I share a great
deal in common with musically. I have found the return of actual
print ‘zines to be one of the more exciting developments over the
past year or so. I’ve been really enjoying each issue of the Bull
Tongue Review and other publications like Fordamning and Eyestrain.
There’s still something very appealing to me about sitting down
with an actual print publication. Again, it’s nice to be able to
read and think away from a screen and the myriads of distractions
that are just a click away. Perhaps that’s why I’ve also
maintained a subscription to The Wire for all of these years despite
my better budgetary judgment.
I
suppose the main way that I’m discovering new music, though, is by
combing through all of the mail order and label updates that I
subscribe to. I tend to follow certain labels quite closely, so a lot
of my discoveries simply come through keeping an eye on what they’re
up to. Likewise, I get to hear about a lot of upcoming releases
through being affiliated with Decoder Magazine and artists/labels
just reaching out to me directly. I’m also frequently hipped to new
things through friends on social media whose tastes I respect. That’s
probably the main reason I’ve stayed on those sites over the years;
it’s certainly not all of the other noxious content that’s
clogging up the works. Being someone who has shopped at and worked
off-and-on at record stores for years, I still really like to go in
and make spontaneous purchases based on album cover designs and other
random associations. We need places like record stores in our
communities; places that we can go to and interact with people in the
flesh.
rotational:
as you get older, have yr listening habits or record-finding habits
changed (mine are evolving to the point where i'm buying less and
less, funds/life/shelves won't allow)? and if so, why do you think
that is? do you think our sped-up lifestyles play a part in how we
search out or fall back into deep listening? do you have to make time
for any of this, or is it really natural and a way of life for you?
I
think because of the radio and podcast show I’m much more focused
and intentional in how I go about listening and finding records. For
better or worse, I’m less inclined to check out music that I don’t
think has any immediate connection to what I’m doing with the show;
I really just don’t care all that much about or have the time for
what is being deemed “Best New Music”. We are all being inundated
with so much music in various forms everyday, from album streams to
video teasers to mixes and on and on, so it all can be a bit much to
take in and to thoroughly process. Because of that, I’m much more
content now with following my own listening path based on personal
connections and associations to the artists and music happening on
the show. As I mentioned previously, this is just something that I
naturally do at this point of my life.
rotational:
what are some of the most unique/challenging/heavy things that you've
heard recently? and do you have a go-to sound or style or vibe that
hits the sweet spot?
I’ve
been listening to the new Ramleh album quite a bit of late. There’s
a whole lot of massive guitar sounds to sift through on that one,
something I haven’t focused that much attention on in recent
memory. This album has since led me back into other corners of the
Broken Flag catalog that I’ve previously overlooked. That album by
Hour House on Penultimate Press is another recent favorite. It just
flows together so perfectly from start-to-finish. The latest from
Astor, Mark Harwood’s (Penultimate Press head honcho) third album
under this moniker, is also really strong and a bit of a departure
from his previous outings on Kye, getting into more purely electronic
textures. The latest from The Pheromoans, a band that I’ve always
quite enjoyed, also veers in that direction, too. I’m not sure that
I have a clear go-to sound or style that hits the sweet spot, but I’d
reckon that warbly tape-based compositions and other ramshackle DIY
pop and rock sounds would rank quite highly on the list.
rotational:
what's 2016 got in store for you? any giant plans?
I
don’t have any major plans that I can menton at this time. You can
expect more feature shows, and I’d like to have a few more
in-studio guests, if possible, too. I tend to not plan things out too
far in advance, as I like to have the flexibility to coordinate
things around what I’m currently into.
